Dark Seldarine
The Dark Seldarine is the drow pantheon of gods. It consists of: *Eilistraee : Goddess of song, beauty, dance, swordwork, hunting, and moonlight. Killed by the Lady Penitent (Halisstra Melarn) in 1379 DR. Eilistraee is alive once again after the Sundering, and she is one of the deities with whom the returned Mystra is currently sharing the Weave Ed Greenwood (June 2015), Spellstorm (Wizards of the Coast). She and her brother Vhaeraun are separate again and mortals are aware of her reappearence (having personally seen and met her manifestations and even avatars), but her power and status remain unknown *Kiaransalee : Goddess of undead, vengeance. Faded from existence due to a sudden lack of worshipers in 1375 DR *Ghaunadaur :God of oozes, slimes, jellies, outcasts, ropers, rebels. Left the Demonweb Pits (and presumably the drow pantheon itself) at the conclusion of The Lady Penitent trilogy in 1379 DR. *Lolth (formerly Araushnee) : Goddess of spiders, evil, darkness, chaos, assassins, drow *Selvetarm : God of drow warriors. Killed by a follower of Eilistraee in 1375 DR *Vhaeraun : God of thievery, drow males, evil activity on the surface. Killed by Eilistraee in 1375 DR. He too, like his sister, is once again alive after the (event) and he too has manifested to his followers in the present time. During the events of The Lady Penitent trilogy, most of the drow pantheon was killed off during an epic sava match between Lolth and Eilistraee, leaving only Lolth remaining, with the other surviving member Ghaunadaur presumably renouncing his position on the drow pantheon upon his departure from the Demonweb Pits. About a century later, during the events of the Sundering, both Eilistraee and Vhaeraun manage to make a comeback. Recent Events The following documents a series of events which took place following the Silence of Lolth and ending shortly after her rebirth. The drow of the Underdark, highly dependent upon the powerful clerical magic of their dark goddess, were greatly weakened by Lolth's failure to answer prayers (for reasons then unknown to them). The other organized races of the Underdark, seeking to exact revenge upon the drow and to usurp their power, began to make threatening moves towards the drow cities of the Underdark. Powerful organizations, such as the Jaezred Chaulssin, the Scourged Legion and the churches of Kiaransalee and Vhaeraun begin to do the same. Lolth's silence threatened to rip apart the very fabric of matriarchal society, with females (of whom the greater part were clerics) left magically bereft, and males (of whom the greater part were wizards) were left in a position of power. The drow of Menzoberranzan, through Triel Baenre, sent a group of powerful adventurers (initially Quenthel Baenre, Pharaun Mizzrym, Ryld Argith, Valas Hune and the Draegloth Jeggred Baenre) to discover the cause of Lolth's silence (or, as was then suspected, disfavor). Timeline of Recent Events 1372 DR * Eleasias: Lolth stops granting spells to her clerics. She does not answer prayers or give any signs. Many sacrifices are made in an attempt to 'atone' for whatever misdeeds the priesthood were believed to have performed. :Several noble houses of the Drow city of Maerimydra immediately begin an awful bloodletting. * Eleint: Kurgoth Hellspawn attacks Maerimydra outright with the aid of the city's archmage Duneth Wharreil and an army of humanoids, giants and demons. :Irae T'sarran takes over Castle Maerimydra during the chaos. * Marpenoth: Many males of Menzoberrazan vanish without explanation. Matron Mothers suspect that they must know something about Lolth. :Against Triel's wishes, Gromph Baenre orders Pharaun to investigate. Pharaun recruits Ryld to help. ::Gromph sends demonic assassins to kill Quenthel. :::Pharaun and Ryld discover the missing males to be working with an alhoon who plans to cause a slave rebellion in order to weaken the city. They kill the alhoon and the rebellion is crushed mercilessly. ::::Irae kills Duneth and conquers Maerimydra while her daughter Dorina takes over Szith Morcane to the west. Irae summons Kiaransalee's Undying Temple to the Material Plane and Dorina launches raids on Daggerdale. :::::Quenthel's company set out for Ched Nasad. * Uktar: Ched Nasad is destroyed in a failed coup attempt. Quenthel's company escape through a portal and begin searching for priests of Vhaeraun. : Menzoberranzan comes under siege from the Duergar of Gracklstugh, the Tanarukks of Hellgate Keep and Menzoberranzan's own House Agrach Dyrr. :: Quenthel's company finally get to the Demonweb Pits but are betrayed by their Vhaeraunite guide who summons his god to attack the defenseless Lolth. Selvetarm appears to battle Vhaeraun but both fall off the web and plummet into the darkness below. 1373 DR * Ches: Lolth's silence ends when she is transformed into a greater deity. Surface-dwelling drow come under attack from the Lady Penitent. The Jaezred Chaulssin move to cement their hold in the ruins of Ched Nasad. : The Scoured Legion withdraw their troops from Menzoberranzan. 1375 DR * Nightal: Lolth and Eilistraee play a game of sava of divine proportions. Selvetarm is slain by a mortal follower of Eilistraee wielding the Crescent Blade. Vhaeraun's followers use Elven High Magic to open a portal to Eilistraee's realm that Vhaeraun uses to attempt to assassinate his sister. The plain backfires, Vhaeraun is killed and Eilistraee absorbs his portfolio while Selvetarm's is granted to Lolth. 1377 DR Kiaransalee foolishly joins in the game of sava and her followers try and alter the Underdark's natural faerzress magic to affect the ability for Drow to use teleportation or divination magic. In retribution, Eilistraee's followers assault the Acropolis of Thanatos and kill Kiaransalee's high priestesses while at the same time, other followers invoke Elven High Magic discovered in the ruins of Miyeritar to remove all mention of Kiaransalee's name. She fades from existence. 1379 DR Eilistraee and her chosen Qilué are killed by Halisstra Melarn at the urging of Lolth's champion Wendonai but roughly 20% of all drow are redeemed in the eyes of the Seldarine and their divine curse is lifted, restoring to them their lighter brown skin. : Lolth attempts to remove her last rival in the Dark Seldarine, Ghaunadaur. Ghaunadaur proves to be much more powerful than Lolth expected. Ghaunadaur leaves the Demonweb and creates his new divine realm in the Deep Caverns, thus ending the War of the Spider Queen. : 1480s DR (post Sundering (event)) Eilistraee and Vhaeraun are alive and separate entities again, supposedly restored during the Sundering. References de:Dunkle Seldarine Category:Dark Seldarine